654 NJ Cops Faced ‘Major Discipline,' New Attorney General Report Shows

More than 650 law enforcement personnel, ranging in rank from officer all the way up to chief, faced major discipline, according to a new report released by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.

The Attorney General’s Office released its 2025 Major Discipline Report on June 12.

The 560-page report includes a wide variety of police misconduct, such as sexual contact, turning off a body-worn camera, severely beating a child and wearing earrings.

The annual update, issued by the Office of Justice Data and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, covers major disciplinary actions imposed between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2025.

According to the report, 169 law enforcement agencies took 817 major discipline actions against 654 officers during the 2025 reporting year.

"Maintaining faith in government and trust in law enforcement requires that residents know the State holds law enforcement to the highest professional standards," said Attorney General Jennifer Davenport. "Transparency and accountability are key to maintaining public confidence in our officers."

Reportable discipline includes terminations, reductions in rank, suspensions of more than five days and cases where officers are found guilty of certain internal affairs violations.

The reporting requirement also covers discriminatory conduct, filing a false report, intentionally performing an improper search, applying excessive force, being untruthful, intentionally mishandling or destroying evidence, committing domestic violence and other infractions.

It also includes officers charged with an indictable crime and officers who left their agency while an internal affairs matter was pending if the ultimate outcome would have required reporting.

Police Chiefs

Among those disciplined were seven police chiefs in New Jersey.

Hillsdale Police Chief Sean Smith who made a biased comment that was seen and overheard by several other officers in the Police Department on July 11, 2024, while inside headquarters.

"Specifically, Smith referred to himself and another white officer as being the ‘lightest/whitest’ member of the Police Department. Smith then asked another African American officer who was present if he was going to compare skin tones with a newly hired African American officer who was not present, to determine 'How black you guys are.' Smith then held out his forearm to demonstrate what the two officers would do to see ‘who is blacker'," according to the report.

Smith separated from employment with the Hillsdale Police Department prior to discipline being imposed.

Vineland Police Chief Pedro Casiano was suspended for 180 days after he was arrested and charged on Oct. 13, 2024, with domestic simple assault due to the victim showing physical signs of injury.

Sea Bright Police Chief Brett Friedman was suspended for 44 days following a DWI crash.

Manville Police Chief Thomas Herbst was suspended and then terminated in 2025.

On Feb. 13, 2025, Thomas Herbst was convicted by a jury in Somerset County on several counts of official misconduct and related offenses.

Specifically, he was found guilty of four counts of official misconduct, one count of a pattern of official misconduct, one count of sexual assault (all second-degree crimes), and one count of criminal sexual conduct (fourth-degree). Chief Herbst was convicted of unwanted sexual behavior toward at least three women.

"The conviction revealed he regularly groped, exposed himself to, sexually harassed, and sexually assaulted an employee of the police department who reported directly to him, using coercion and doing so without the victim’s consent, between 2008 and 2021," according to the report.

Domestic Violence

Some other reports included domestic violence.

Newark Police Jeanette DeJesus resigned - not in good standing in connection with domestic violence–related offenses, weapons charges, and aggravated assault.

"The incident involved an assault against a person protected under the Domestic Violence Act, during which Officer De Jesus allegedly struck the individual with a metal pole and then used a wrench to choke them," according to the report.

The charges were ultimately resolved through Pretrial Intervention (PTI) in Superior Court.

East Orange Police Officer Devin Higgs was terminated after he was convicted in 2024 in connection with an off-duty incident from Feb. 15, 2018.

In 2018, Higgs severely beat his nine-year-old son, causing 22 rib fractures, a fractured scapula bone, bruises, scars and other marks.

Increase Transparency

The Attorney General’s Office said the information is released to increase transparency of police discipline and use of force.

The reporting is required under AG Directive 2021-6 and AG Directive 2022-14, which require all New Jersey law enforcement agencies to submit a major discipline reporting form by Jan. 31 of the following year for actions taken in the prior year.

The state said agencies report major discipline only when the discipline is final and appeals have been exhausted. Pending cases are not included.

Also released with the discipline report was the 2025 summary of reported internal affairs cases statewide.

For 2025, law enforcement agencies reported opening more than 16,000 internal affairs investigations stemming from more than 11,000 incidents and involving more than 10,000 unique law enforcement officers across New Jersey.

More than a quarter of all closed investigations resulted in a sustained finding, most often leading to oral or written reprimands, which represented 40 percent of the disciplinary action taken.

Retraining or counseling occurred in 18 percent of cases, while suspension without pay happened in 14 percent of instances.

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